10 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2015
    1. The most recent Population and Housing Census conducted in Cuba confirmed that black and mixed-race people are the poorest in Cuba, a problem that will be difficult to overcome by any post-Castro government. A future Cuba will also have to devote considerable efforts to come in aid of an aged population, the chronically ill, alcoholics, drug-addicts and the numerous single-mother families where fathers have been absent for three generations.

      Orlando Zapata's National Civic Resistance and Disobedience Front protesting racism and "Potential Criminality law"

    1. There's little question that, whatever else the Cuban Revolution has done or not done, it triumphed with a strong and progressive platform on race. At every single official level, it explicitly and forcibly banned racial discrimination. In fact, it may have done so too forcefully. Because Cuba is a top-down society -- especially under Fidel Castro -- the new anti-racism codes rained down without explanation and, more importantly, without process. People understood that racism was no longer tolerated but not how they participated in racist structures, how they were affected by the legacy of racism and, least of all, how light-skinned Cubans -- especially on the island -- benefited from those legacies.

      Article on the existence of modern racism in Cuba

    1. “Everyone is wondering how the transition will affect the authenticity of Cuban heritage, tradition, music, values,” they said. “Will it be transformed, will it melt or mix? There are many ways to think about those pieces in relation to the larger state of the world.”
  2. Oct 2015
    1. People Who Worry the U.S. Will "Spoil" Cuba Are Fetishizing Poverty

      This article made me curious about the impact that the U.S. has on the economy of latin america (specifically cuba) today and how it differs, if at all, from the impact it has historically had.

    1. Cuba's Health Care System: a Model for the World

      Reading this made me think of a core question: Is there a correlation between revolution and an awareness of public health? If so, why? Expanding on that thought, I began to wonder if there are there any examples within Latin American revolutions that could prove or refute this idea.

    1. Analysis: Castro brothers' successor may inherit a very different Cuba

      I think that this article is important because it discusses the challenges of adapting a government centered around a single individual to the demands of the modern era. It would be interesting to compare the Castro's changes in policies to the changes in policies that other Latin American dictators have made and see if there is some sort of pattern or similarity.

    1. For a Post-Castro Cuba, Castro Lite

      This article was intriguing to me because it caused me to ponder what I believe to be a significant question: What impacts the legacy of a dictator?

    1. El tema es que el 8% de la población dominicana es extranjera, o sea, unas 800.000 personas, en números redondos, la mayoría en una situación de precariedad jurídica. En tal virtud se dictó la ley 169/14, que regularizó a 55.000 personas, hijos de padres extranjeros pero con algún documento dominicano de residencia, y a y 9.000 que no contaban con ninguna documentación.

      A discussion of some of the differences between Haiti and the Dominican Republic as realities to the current situation involving non-citizen Haitians in the Dominican. Article argues that the problems of immigration and citizenship cannot be resolved by the Dominican alone, and that then Haitian government must take responsibility for its own citizens in order to ameliorate the crisis.

  3. Sep 2015
    1. Las tensiones entre la Iglesia Católica y la Revolución comenzaron cuando las medidas de estatización de propiedades nacionales y extranjeras enviaron señales de que el país se encaminaba hacia el comunismo. El catolicismo preconciliar, de fuerte connotación franquista, se puso del lado de quienes defendían el capitalismo como más adecuado a la libertad religiosa e identificaron el comunismo con el ángel exterminador de la fe cristiana.

      An exploration of communist Cuba's relationship with the Catholic Church following Pope Francis' visit. Cuba took refuge following it's revolution under the wings of the Soviet Union, causing a lot of friction between the Church and the new Cuban state. Cuba and the Church always maintained a relationship, however, and Raul Castro and the Pope have a lot in common with their shared criticisms of capitalism.

    1. Cuba pardons 3,522 prisoners days before Pope Francis’ visit

      Check out this article, I thought that it was interesting mainly because it illustrates the lasting effect that Christianity has had on Latin America and specifically Cuba.